Just finished up on going through the orders from our yearly preschool shoot at the All Precious Children Preschool in Arvada. As of this year I’ve been photographing this preschool for ten years! A decade of smiling children’s faces. My own son attends the preschool now as well and we love it! A small school with really amazing teachers. Just another reason I really love Spring!

Since our old Blog is still up I thought I would share a link to it in case anyone cares to look back in the old archives at anything. This blog dates from 2005 – til around 2012 or so… right up to when I had my first child! And then I took a little hiatus from blogging until I started up my new website and blog that you are now visiting! I was still working, but just couldn’t seem to find the time to blog! But I’m back! Trying to document all of the work we do to share with you amazing people! So if you want to see how far we’ve come in the past 12 years on the web check it out –

Not everyone knows we offer coverage of other types of events… And one of my favorite times of year is Spring! When we do photography and my husband’s DJ company, Digital DJ does Father & Daughter Dances! Nothing is cuter than a little girl all dressed up and dancing with her dad! Most of the clubs that we’ve been doing this service for have used us for years. We provide a portrait of each dad and daughter or daughters (as it might be) with a background that goes along with their theme for the year and then some candid & detail photos of the dance party! The photos above are from The Club at Rolling Hills and this year’s theme was “The Oscars & Hollywood” The photos below are from the Boulder Country Club and their theme this year was Princesses with each table having it’s very own princess theme… Super cute! Can’t wait to do it again next year!

Buy a creative hanger or make your own and make sure your dress is out of the protective covering that you kept it in to get it to your venue. Have it setting out along with your veil, shoes, garter, jewelry and any other accessories that you would like your photographer to photograph. There are so many creative ways to make your dress the star in it’s own right: hang it with the bridesmaids dresses like in the photo above, tell the photographer to hang it outdoors or off a beautifully framed mirror. This is a great way to showcase your wedding gown.

#2 – Preparation Shots of Both the Bride & Groom

It used to be all about the bride, but not anymore. If you and your groom are getting ready at the same location or if you hired two photographers one can be with the bride and her gals and the other with the groom and his guys. Touch ups of the bride’s make-up, putting on the veil, etc. all make for interesting shots that tell the story of your special day. The men usually don’t take very long to get ready, but there are some great candid opportunities there as well, such as buttoning cuff links, straightening ties, toasting to the groom and even something that was unique about your wedding such as each groomsman wearing different color socks all make for fun elements to photograph.

#3 The First Time Others See the Bride

A reaction shot the first time your dad sees you in your dress or your bridesmaids checking you out in a mirror all make for emotional storytelling images. A great photographer knows this and will stay by your side as much as possible to make sure they get these special once in a lifetime moments.

#4 The First Time The Groom Sees His Bride

Whether this is a staged shot before the ceremony called a “First Look” because you want to have a quiet moment between each other before the festivities begin or you’re doing it because you are trying to knock out the majority of the formal photos before the ceremony or even if the first time he sees you is when you walk down the aisle these are great shots to get… Getting the expression of both the bride and the groom is made even easier with two photographers covering your ceremony! One will be concentrating on the bride’s big entrance and the other on the groom’s reaction.

#5 Close Up of the Hands During the Ring Ceremony

It’s always great to get a close-up shot of your hands as you are exchanging your wedding rings. A great photographer will do this unobtrusively using a longer lens either from the back of the ceremony site or from the side if there is room to do so without taking the focus of you as a couple.

#6 The Big Kiss

This is the shot of all shots to get! And different cultures, religions will have this at different points in the ceremony. If you are not doing the traditional big kiss at the very end before you are presented as man and wife let your photographer know when this is suppose to happen so they can anticipate the big moment and get this crucial must have shot! Another great suggestion is to ask your friends and family to not take photos at least during the ceremony and to leave it to the professionals. In these modern times everyone has a cell phone that takes photos and they also think it’s a great idea to pop up and take a photo just as the couple are about to kiss. I don’t know how many times I’ve been all set in the perfect location to take this shot only to have to move and not get the best photo that I could have gotten because someone decided to hop up in front of me. If you have your officiant say something in the beginning or just add a line to your wedding program something like: “We invite you to be truly present at this special time. Please, turn off your cell phones and put down your cameras. The photographer will capture how this moment looks — We encourage you all to capture how it feels with your hearts, without the distraction of technology.” I guarantee you won’t regret adding this small request to your wedding program!

#7 The Reception Hall Before Guests Enter

Make sure your photographer gets photos of how the reception area is decorated before the guests are allowed to enter, if at all possible. You spend a lot of time and effort deciding on a color theme, centerpieces, etc. and more than likely you won’t get a chance to see it until you enter and the guests are already seated. It’s a wonderful way to remember how beautiful everything was and to record your hard work!

#8 Fun Casual Photos of the Wedding Party

While every photographer should take a standard traditional pose of everyone looking and smiling at the camera. Couples getting married today enjoy keeping it lighthearted, fun and playful. It’s a lot more memorable for your wedding party if the last few photos taken in your formal session are creative and and fun to be a part of. There’s no reason wedding photos have to be stuffy! Choosing the right photographer who has experience with organizing and posing groups can also make this portion of the portraits go faster so you can get on to the party quicker; and who doesn’t like that?! You may be the type of person who hates this part of wedding photography and if so I implore you to still do a few group shots even if it’s just one shot of the entire wedding party. Without a designated time-frame to take some traditional wedding group portraits there’s no guarantee you will get a shot with some of the important people in your life ie. mom, dad and grandparents. I’ve spoken to a few couples who went with a photographer who only did photo-journalistic style coverage and their biggest regret was that they didn’t have any shots of their families or wedding parties. The ideal situation is to pick a person who can do both styles and do it well so you get the best of both!

#9 Romantic Shots of Just the Two of You

When planning out the time-frame needed for taking photos after your event don’t forget to schedule at least 20-30 minutes for photos of just the two of you alone without any one else except the photographer. It’s a lot easier to do some romantic poses without an entourage! Plus it’s a nice little break before you start schmoozing your guests again at the reception. These will probably be some of the most important photos taken the entire day and often times they are the ones couples leave little time for…. It’s always better to err on the side of caution and plan a little more time for formal photos then you think it will take because stuff can happen to push your timeline back. With a little wiggle room photos don’t feel rushed and hey you might even have some time to use the restroom in between!

#10 The Sunset Shot and/or The Send-Off Shot

If you are planning a grand send off at the end of the night and have budgeted to have your photographer cover your event until the end then a Send-Off shot is a great way to end any wedding album. If you plan on having a really long dance party and think you won’t have many guests left at the end to do a send off or you plan on the photographer being done earlier because of your budget than opt for a sunset photo instead (especially if you are doing a mostly outdoor event). Sunsets are the best time of day with the most amazing light for photographs and will give you some of the best photos from your day. Discuss it with your photographer beforehand and make sure he or she grabs you from the reception about 20 minutes before the sun is slated to go down… Even though I just mentioned the pitfalls of everyone having a smart phone above… there’s also an advantage for wedding photographers unlike we’ve ever had in the past… We can follow the weather by radar on our phones to see when there will be a break in the rain and there’s even an “app” for sunrise and sunsets in every part of the world! What an amazing time to be living in!

Just a quick post about Hilda & Patrick’s intimate wedding at the Historic Morrison Church in Morrison, CO. They held a very simple ceremony in this little chapel with only about 20 guests. Just because they went small doesn’t mean they had to scrimp on their wedding photos. We will do small events and elopements at a discounted rate when they are booked just 60 days or less out from their event date. Contact us with your date, venue and information and mention that it’s a small event with all the details and we’ll send you back some pricing! Super cute wedding!